This invention relates to simulated games and, more particularly, to a simulated bowling game employing solid state logic.
There have been a number of proposals in the prior art for games which simulate the movement of an object to a target area. In the games, which are, for example, disclosed in Hurley U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,337,218; 3,604,707; and 3,637,202, the accuracy of a simulated horseshoe toss, dart toss, or bird shoot is determined by the player who presses a button two times in succession. If the time spacing between the actuations of the button are equal to some predetermined interval, the object is shown as travelling along an accurate path. If, however, the time between actuations of the button differs from the predetermined interval, an inaccurate movement of the object is determined and displayed. It has also been proposed to simulate a bowling game, and such a device is shown in Coci et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,731. In the game shown in this patent, the path of the ball may be selected by pivoting a ball path selector bar to different path positions. A plurality of lamps are carried by the bar and display the movement of the ball down the alley to the pin area.
These prior art simulated games are limited in appeal, because they lack any element of chance and thus do not duplicate the excitement and unpredictability of real games. In a real bowling game, for example, there are always random factors affecting the accuracy of the ball roll and determining which pins will fall when a ball enters the pin target area.